St. Luke’s Hospital’s Future Uncertain

The future of St. Luke’s Hospital, a rundown facility that predominantly serves the poor and the elderly on the southeast side of the city, is up in the air thanks to a high-risk game of poker between a health care provider and the City.

Earlier this year, Mayor Ed Lee brokered an agreement between the City and Sutter Health-affiliated, California Pacific Medical Center, to build two new hospitals. One would be a 555-bed hospital on Cathedral Hill and the other would be to rebuild a seismically safe version of St. Luke’s Hospital on the corner of Valencia and Cesar Chavez streets.

Under the deal, St. Luke’s would shrink from a 12-floor hospital capable of supporting 229 beds, to a six-story, 80-bed hospital. Previously Sutter had planned to turn the building into an outpatient facility and possibly close the hospital.

A key part of the deal unraveled last week after members of the Board of Supervisors held a press conference during which they presented leaked documents that painted a scenario in which St. Luke’s would close within five years after opening in the fall of 2016, instead of the 20 years promised by CPMC.

CPMC representatives say the documents are “literally trash,” and were never meant to be part of deal. The documents show that operating revenue for the hospital will fall below 1 percent by 2018. If this happens twice in a row, CPMC can activate an escape clause that allows it to close the hospital. TO READ MORE CLICK HERE